As you may have deduced, we have an "insider" who is letting us know what's going to happen in this complex before it happens. At first we were dubious, but after the Oval Cafe cart became a reality, something this insider informed us about, we knew we had a good source for what's coming up in Stuy Town.
Well, we have just learned that Dominico Figaroa, the renowned organ grinder of Coney Island, will be doing his organ grinding performance around the Oval. Much like the Oval Cafe cart, Dominico will take his organ to various places around the Oval to play hurdy-gurdy music and showcase the talking and movable mechanical monkey placed atop the machine. (NYC law prevents the use of a real monkey.) The catch? You have to put a dollar into the organ for the performance. The machine will accept bills or coins.
Lady Maya, the director of resident programming in STPCV, has already prepared a response to the certain inquiry from Town & Village that's to come in a week or two: "Having an organ grinder play with his organ and monkey for the children will be a wonderful addition to our community. We are very excited about this new amenity performance that is sure to become popular among our residents."
UPDATE 7/10/12: Dominico Figaroa informed me on the phone just now that he is still under contract negotiations with Stuy Town and that his organ grinding appearances are not a done deal yet. "They wanna take 95 cents outta da dollar I charge, but I said no way. It's gotta be a 50/50 split. My monkey needs to be lubricated to work well, and lubrication is not cheap!"
Have you seen their new advertising? There's already too much organ grinding in the Oval!
ReplyDeleteThis can't be true.
ReplyDeleteIt can't be true because it is just too stupid.
Please tell me that this is not true. I need to hear it.
"Having an organ grinder play with his organ and monkey for the children..."
ReplyDeletePlaying with his organ in front of children? Great. Now we have Oval Pedophile.
Somebody call Chris Hansen!
PETA should be notified immediately.
ReplyDeleteIs this for real? I guess it is in CW/Rose's alternate reality. Whatever happened to allowing children to make up their own games? Kids can be pretty creative--they don't need to be programmed all the time (and especially not by the likes of Lady Maya). In this week's New York magazine, Spike Lee bemoans the break in generations of tradition because the kids of Brooklyn gentrifiers never learn the New York games that every kid used to play. Same here. Now, instead of jumping rope, playing potsy, running around, and climbing the monkey bars, kids get to be still and watch a fake monkey. That's progress.
ReplyDeleteIs that Jerry and Robbie Speyer?
ReplyDelete“Olympics Grand Opening Ceremony Outdoor Screening-Fri, Jul. 27th, 4PM-7PM, On the Oval”
ReplyDeleteThis woman is and her handlers, CW Capital and Rose Associates, are out of control. My God, the Olympics TV opening ceremonies have to be programmed on the Oval? What is this, the 1969 Moon landing? Lady Maya, you do realize that popular TV has been around since the early 50’s. Of course, “Free to all residents and their guests.” And what is the fee for non-residents?
http://www.pcvst.com/events/signature-events/family-events.aspx
"Is that Jerry and Robbie Speyer?"
They wish they were that good looking.
Is this for real????
ReplyDeleteCmon STR, fess up.
When I was a lttle kid in the brand new Stuy Town of the early fifties, you could see organ grinders on 1st Ave.
ReplyDeleteThet had real monkeys on a long chain. The monkey would pester those who stopped to listen to put a coin in his cup. I always wanted to give the monkey a coin, but Mom would pull me along the sidewalk!
Stuy Town Baby
Unless I'm missing something, we've been watching fake monkeys running this place for the better half of a decade now.
ReplyDeleteIt's getting old. A new monkey isn't going to make things any better.
Can anyone explain what's going on? ST looks like a botanical garden. PCV is getting a massive face lift. The store fronts are getting revamped. Concessions & amenities popping up left and right, and now an organ grinder. I understand Mayor Bloomberg & Donald Trump will come down to yodel on the weekends. What's going on?
ReplyDelete>>Is this for real???? Cmon STR, fess up.<<
ReplyDeleteI'll give Dominico a call. ;-)
>>“Olympics Grand Opening Ceremony Outdoor Screening-Fri, Jul. 27th, 4PM-7PM, On the Oval”
ReplyDeleteThis woman is and her handlers, CW Capital and Rose Associates, are out of control.<<
It really is getting ridiculous and obtrusive. It's like they are caught up in a frenzy of showing the world that "there's something always going on in Stuy Town!" By now, I'm thinking it's a form of madness. The TV screenings are particularly idiotic and generally poorly attended. You really have to be desperate to watch a poor quality TV picture outside, when you can watch a much more superior quality picture inside the convenience of your own apartment, with food and beer/wine at your ready, and a toilet nearby.
STR,
ReplyDeleteSometimes this kind of madness portends the end of a regime.
I am hoping it will be so.
Fingers crossed and monkeys leashed....
The raw desperation behind these gimmicks is painful to witness. It's like watching a train wreck.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sure they're spiffying up the place so the tenants can buy it, for a really low oprice and live happily ever after.
ReplyDeleteROFLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Interesting article in today’s NY Times about rebranding the Catskills. It holds special relevance with the marketing campaign and Lady Maya’s gimmicks that are currently going on around here.
ReplyDelete‘Which is perhaps why Ron Rozman, a semiretired editor and entrepreneur who grew up in Ellenville, reasons that if the mountains, rivers and valleys are the ultimate brand, why not just leave them be?’
“It seems silly to rebrand the Catskills,” he said. “It’s like rebranding a black walnut tree.”
Substitute the Oval for the Catskills, same MO.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/nyregion/beyond-borscht-rebranding-the-catskills.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
Make sure they are registered guests first! However I,m sure the monkey will meet the weight requirement, but possibly not the dangerous breeds mandate. If they get him a uniform he could be security?
ReplyDeleteI think this nice, kind-hearted Mr Rose and Lady Mayo are doing all this in order to retain us seniors. After all, we can't afford cable and since the system got digitalized I can only get "snow" on my old Zenith. Nothing makes me want to fire up my walker and head to the Oval than the thought of free television on a big screen out in the open. After all, the college kids and market raters have 80" flat screens on the walls of their cubicles' pressure walls and can watch everything at home. Us old folks in our unrenovated, unairconditioned apartments need a reason to go to the Oval and what's better than the free entertainment of clowns, fire-eaters, pushcarts and organ grinders with monkeys to remind us of our youth? Why those lovely free concerts are made nice and loud for our deaf old ears and that lovely Oval Cafe is just to make us seniors happy. Just one request to the Chef at Oval Cafe: please don't put the PB&J sandwiches on hard crusty bread because then we have to take our dentures out and put them on the able besides our plates and dunk the bread in our coffee to soften it and that might night fit in well with the sophisticated elegance of Oval Cafe. How about some prune juice on the menu for us? You know how important that is to the older folks. Also, why can't we have Sunday afternoon BINGO on the Oval? That way, after shuffling through the greenmarket on Sunday morning, squeezing all the fruits (why does Manny come to mind, I wonder at the mention of squeezing fruits?) we can go and try to win back our $200 per month rent at Bingo! What fun! Mr. Rose, we know you love us seniors so much and are terrified that we will move out, so you are doing all this for us. Don't worry. We won't go. You make it so lovely here that we will live long and strong thanks to you and Lady Mayo. It's stuff and nonsense that you are trying to pull in only young people and students. We know that you are putting in pressure walls so that we can have a cosy nook for our home attendants to sleep in. C'mon folks, stop complaining about lovely Mr. Rose and that sweetheart Lady Mayo they are doing everything they can to market to and retain seniors who would hate it if the loudest thing on the Oval was the rustle of trees in the breeze and the sound of song birds trilling away there and the only freebies being given away were the nuts being fed to the greedy squirrels. Now, as soon as I can find my dentures I'm off to enjoy some tasty snacks at Oval Cafe and just hope they are not too hard to chew with the teeth in. I also hope I don't get knocked over by a large exuberant dog or a delivery boy on his 100 mph bicycle. Those guys love to ride and text at the same time and leave us oldsters threshing around with broken hips, but that's a small price to pay for all the free excitement Mr. Rose lays on for us!
ReplyDeleteI heard today that Mayor Bloomberg wants to get round the City's zoning laws (such an unheard of concept under his Regime - not) to build "affordable" housing for young singles. He wants to get round the anti-tenement zoning laws so that he can put up a building or buildings with 300 sq ft apartments. Just when I thought he was trying to turn New York into a strip mall with bike lanes and pedestrian plazas, here he is building new tenements! Way to go, Bloomie, but the Speyers and Rosies have been turning Sty Town into tenements for the better part of 10 years. You've come to the party a little late!
ReplyDelete"If they get him a uniform he could be security?"
ReplyDeleteManagement would never do that. They know he'd make monkeys out of them...
"I heard today that Mayor Bloomberg wants to get round the City's zoning laws (such an unheard of concept under his Regime - not) to build "affordable" housing for young singles"
ReplyDeleteYou can read about it here, coming soon to 27th Street in Kips Bay: http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/164514/small-floorplans-sought-for-big-city-living
Why not have a seasonal Oval Log Flume that towers approximately 14 stories high and delights residents and non-residents alike with $17 rides? Free on Wednesdays from 3-4 PM, of course.
ReplyDeleteMayor Bloomberg launches contest to stir development of tiny 300-square-foot apartments for singles
ReplyDeleteGo for it Stuytown!
Stuy Town is the MODEL for demonstrating how many young people can live in a 200 sq ft space. Sponsored by Pressure Wall Manhattan!
ReplyDeleteWait, did I see 7/9 11:23 PM actually complaining about CW/Rose actually improving the landscaping? I'd like to think that this is something we can all get behind, but I suppose you can't please some people. If, of course, 11:23pm is a person, and not some automated complaint bot ;)
ReplyDeleteI think this is all a part of selling this place as condominiums to people who are willing and able to pay top dollar. I figure it's all collusion between CW, Rose & Brookfield to make this happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm not buying.
ReplyDeleteThis place is a friggin' zoo!
not buying either. i was, but NOW i am not.
ReplyDeleteI'm not buying either. Wouldn't trust these sleazy bastards an inch.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I just signed up for Oval Monkey! I get three bags of peanuts a month to feed the monkey and a bagel every other Sunday in months ending in "R." They even threw in a complimentary 5 minute workout at Oval Fitness! I can use it any day before 6 am or after 11 pm.
ReplyDeleteThis place is so great!
The Oval Monkey is also scheduled for a Music in the Oval, obviously a tribute band, The Monkee's replacing the late Davy Jones.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday's he relaxes with his Zogster mates at playground 7
Newsflash: The reason I love living in PCV is because there is NOTHING going on. It's freaking New York City - if I want to find some action, I have endless options outside the confines of this development. The reason I pay through the nose to live here is because it's quiet, like living in a park. These people are absolute morons if they don't understand that they're screwing tenants and themselves out of their unique selling point. UGH!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid (I'm 65) there used to be an organ grinder (complete with a small monkey) who would come to shopping center near where I lived. This must have been along about 1962 or so. The dude who had the organ was of Italian decent. He would play this organ and the monkey sort of did a little dance. When it was all over, the monkey would take off his little hat and come around and collect money. The monkey was a friendly little cuss. Cute too. When I tell my kids and grandchildren this they don't believe me. This all took place in Louisville Kentucky at Dixie Manor Shopping Center.
ReplyDeleteIf you gave the monkey paper money, he would give you a hug. The monkey had on this little vest and a hat. No britches. And I thought it was a hoot. Of course back then we had street vendors too. They sold everything. This monkey was on a chain as well. And he would tip his hat when you talked to him. I suppose this all came to an end about 1963 or so. It was just a thing of the past that I find fascinating. Those truly were the "good 'ol days."